Carbon Fiber?

[thetimboroni]

Anyone ever use carbon fiber for a faceplate?

Yea it would be more expensive but I could imagine it would look amazing.

I was thinking of using like a flight case type thing and using the carbon fiber just for the face.

The one thing I can't tackle is, if I did use it, how would I label the thing?

any suggestions?

[Mr modnaR]

send it to schaeffer and get it etched. providing there's enough depth on the gel coat, you should be fine. i agree it would look cool, i think you can buy pre-made sheets of the stuff.

[stryd_one]

I assume you're taking about carbon fibre weave, but doped in what? Resin?

In order to make the panel markings visible to a practical level, you're going to need a very bright, near primary colour to stand out against the weave, cause it's so high contrast...  almost appears black and white... You might even consider a flourescent or phosphorescent paint with some lighting that activates it (UV LEDs).... But it's far from optimal.

You can get around the cost by getting sheets of carbon fiber lookalike material BTW. The good quality stuff is pretty much indistinguishable from the real thing as far as aesthetics are concerned, and I don't think the practical physical properties are a concern in your case.

I don't think it's a good choice of material for a front panel... But if you're like me and you just think the stuff looks pretty, you could take a page out of the books of so many automobile manufacturers and use the material as a 'highlight'.... Put a square around your LCD, a strip under the rows of knobs, etc etc....Or you could grab some of these: http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=S1037 ... I just ordered 10 for my midiboxen power switches :) There are guys selling them on ebay too.

Anyway I'm going to stop sharing my secret plans now ;)